Soviet Log 27
Spider Brain We picked things up deep in the spider caverns stuck in a web with the choice to press on deeper or turn back burning in our minds. Thanks to Smooth Moves (cast by our ever-helpful guide, Cyta) the webs were reduced to "Hindering Terrain 1" which was a hell of a lot better than "Hindering Terrain 4" which it would have been otherwise. With this in mind, Eva, pulled Katya and Mei Linn deeper into the webbed tunnel. We were looking for the other side; we needed to know if there was even a way through! Eva made some huge strength checks and got us to the end of the tunnel, still dragging Katya and Mei Linn, where they verified that it was, in fact, a dead-end. We needed to turn around! While pressing back through the webs, Katya got the idea that while fire might not work against the webs, water might since it was very dry and dusty down here. Cyta obliged by casting an Ice Storm 'for science' which immediately cleared a large area of webbing as the water washed it away! This cleared up a large space for Eva to move through allowing her to make it all the way to the edge of the web in one super move. The spiders only waited so long for us. Once we had turned around and got close to the edge of the webbing (that we had entered from originally) a Rockclaw moved in and hit Eva with a nasty critical pin attack. Without being able to defend, she was immediately pinned by the massive spider! Katya and Mei Linn were thrown loose and fell prone into the webbing. Our hopes of making a fast exit were looking shaky! Cyta and Roq exited the web first and found multiple additional spiders awaiting us. Meanwhile, Mei Linn and Katya stood back up while Eva tried to break the spider-pin through sheer might. Words from the spider briefing we had been given in K'Nya rumbled in Katya's head so she called for the group to focus fire on the Weaver Spiders, since they were supervisors in the spider hierarchy, (and the only ones with Sensors!). Following her own advice, she busted out of the web and arachnimotion leaped past the Rockjaw assailing Eva. Her leap was well-timed since Eva also broke past the Rockjaw simultaneously which meant it could only attack one of us. Katya went first, so she defended against the attack and freed up Eva to leave unscathed. Still heeding her own advice, Katya focused on the previously damaged Weaver and whittled it down with a flurry of stinging switch blade strikes. She left the remains of a perforated and bleeding Weaver at her feet. This was also when she made the first of three critical saves vs Synaptic Overload on the night. Roq and Eva had already been hit by it and were suffering a brutal -9 to STR, Defend, and DF (note: really should be Move and Initiative as well for 'balance'). Roq moved further along the passage and found a Weaver who was busy sealing it up with fresh webs. We decided that was the way we wanted to go if the spiders did not want us going that way. Cyta (so helpful) used her Ice Storm to blast a hole in the web so the way was clear! Eva was being hounded by the same Rockjaw who kept trying to pin her (which DC builds are awesomely unable to resist). Mei Linn tried putting it to sleep with narcolepsy; it failed its save which bought a bit of time for Eva to get her shit together. She quickly grabbed Mei Linn and the pair of them leapt forward past most of the spiders. Katya looked on while repeatedly slamming into the final remaining Weaver with a pair of critical strikes. Once her flurry ended she performed an elegant yet provocative critical acrobatic tumble-leap-hair flick past the critically wounded Weaver to join Eva and Mei Linn down the passage. Eva blasted the last shreds of life out of the Weaver and we slipped away under cover of darkness. Without the Weaver to spot for the spiders they were unable to see us in the dark. Spider Run n' Gun success! We moved quickly and quietly through the dark corridors towards where Cyta had told us the Overmind waited. Down the end of another gargantuan corridor, it opened up into a large chamber with a number of spiders including the Spider Brain! Katya called for a 'lights on, balls out!' surprise strike but it was a bit premature since she didn't have the Rod of Anti-Arachnid readied. Nevertheless, we surprised that damn spider with flood lights and some highly effective equipment shuffling. With the fight on, Katya called for cover while she took twelve segments to activate the Rod. Roq obliged by leaping into the fray and standing toe to spider-toes with the Spider Brain. Other spiders moved into the room and began attacking. Eva wisely focused on a Weaver while Mei Linn and Cyta made appreciative sounds interspersed with golf claps. Finally, halfway through the round the Rod discharged a magic blast at the Spider Brain. It was covered in some kind of magic energy for a moment but managed to shake it off. The rest of the spiders were stunned (Stun 30?) from the effect of being cut off from the Spider Brain but it was still very much alive and kicking, (and still seemingly afflicted by the influence of the Elder-Ghost). It was at this point that we lamented not spending more time learning about what the Rod was supposed to do. In an attempt both to stall for some time and also figure out what to do, Katya, tried to beguile the Spider Brain into betraying its secrets. Surprisingly, it formed a spider-human face and informed us that it was pretty damn angry and was planning to kill everyone that had betrayed it long ago. It especially didn't like "The Goat" which it sensed on us. Meanwhile, Mei Linn and Cyta paused their golf claps long enough to inform us that we should, in their expert Mystic Lore opinion, 'kill the Spider Brain' while we could. Katya's well versed in the art of small talk but the sheer ferocity and ancient overpowering rage of the Overmind possessing the Spider Brain was too much and she failed to keep the conversation going any longer. With the chatter aside, initiative began anew and we geared up for a tough fight against the elder spider god. That was where we called it for the night. Rewards Continued Life Katya 3 Mystic Points and 1 Benny Rocquette 1 Mystic Point